Chapter and Verse (Warriors 106, Cleveland 96)

“I liked the pace especially. I told them the last day and a half about how we want to push the basketball. We went through our offensive sets, but in the best case scenario we are pushing the basketball, creating openings and getting shots…

“Alot of times last year we knew coming in they would put their best defender between the 2 and 3 on Klay, try to wear him down, try to contain him, and they’d put the smaller guy at times on our small forward, and we didn’t make them pay the price. And going in [to tonight’s game] that was something we wanted to make sure, if they went that way…talked to Harrison this morning, told him exactly what I wanted him to do. No fade away jumpers. No messing around. Punish him.” — Mark Jackson

Usually, as we know, Jackson speaks (to us) in platitudes and generalizations. Tonight he articulated quite crisply the two specific and proactive strategic emphases above — and both are important, not only for this single game, but for the season.

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Tonight, for me, was a tantalizing (and fluctuating) combination of promising signs and lessons not-yet learned. I’ll try to follow the undulating wave more or less in the order in which it rose and fell.

Promising: first quarter ball movement

The story wasn’t how well Thompson and especially Curry shot the ball. The story was how those shots were generated. We know from Jackson’s and Curry’s post-game comments (and from what we saw) that the W’s didn’t push the ball by accident. That was a conscientious focus. And then when the early offense didn’t produce a good shot, the W’s flowed seamlessly into a half-court offense that had purpose and movement. Obviously, that give-and-go, drop-off bounce pass from Bogut to Curry for a lay-up was a thing of beauty that seemed right out of a Clair Bee novel (tell me if you know that reference:) or out of Hoosiers or out of the (now infamous) Princeton offense — except as practiced by Addleman’s Kings, not as it’s currently being muddled and ill-fitted by the Lakers.

But the play that impressed me even more — because while appearing more simple, it was actually more nuanced — was when Bogut had the ball on the block and Curry, coming off weakside motion (that’s right: weakside motion; Bogut didn’t even have to wave his arms around like a traffic cop) sprang free at 17 feet, and Bogut, anticipating the cut, hit him instantaneously. Bingo. Pop. Think of that. Getting your open shooter the ball the split-second he comes open.

These were foretastes — manna dropped down from heaven — of the vaunted inside-out game we’ve been hoping for.

The other notable offensive development was the three post-ups of Barnes against Waiters. Jackson had anticipated that cross-match (Byron Scott putting Gee on Thompson and trusting/hoping that a passive rookie Barnes — and/or an inattentive Jackson — wouldn’t be focused enough to exploit the cross-match). But Jackson and Barnes were. It didn’t draw immediately apparent dividends (drawing one foul and creating one point-blank power miss). But it was absolutely the right anticipation — and it was to pay big dividends later (epitomized most dramatically by CJ Miles grabbing and pulling Barnes down in the post late in the 4th quarter because Miles just couldn’t deal with Barnes otherwise.)

This is a big deal. And here comes a second lament at the loss of Brandon Rush. I’d have played Thompson, Barnes, and Rush in a 3-man rotation at 2 and 3 (with Jefferson getting spot minutes as the 4th wing). And if you had a soft wing defender in the game (and almost every NBA team does), I’d have punished that guy — exactly as Jackson had Barnes do to Waiters and Miles tonight.

Best stat of the night? 6, 5, 6, 5. The assists, in order, of Lee, Bogut, Curry, Jack. Inside-out.

Lesson: What? You still haven’t learned this yet?

The W’s were clicking along. They had stabilized both ends of the floor in remarkable order. And then…jeez, wouldn’t you know…out went Ezeli. And then, once again, the W’s opponent found unexpected breathing room. Not only were offensive rebounds and interior shots suddenly, out of nowhere, available — but Kyrie Irving cracked his knuckles and noticed, “Oh, all my one-on-one options are available again.”

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Because Bogut and Ezeli don’t just block shots, they hedge and show themselves. So when a guy like Irving or Waiters gets a half-step on their man, the future ahead of them is still ambiguous. Bogut and Ezeli don’t overreact and fly out wildly (like — God love them — Foyle and Turiaf would do). It’s not just a matter of taking another step and dropping off a bounce pass to a second-line big who can only dunk — but here, here’s another dunk for you. With Bogut or Ezeli there, hell, who knows? Maybe I’ll have a difficult midrange floater. Or, maybe one of those madmen will leap out and block that, too. OK, I’ve got a half-step on my man, but that 12-foot arc around the basket is still off-limits. I’m a bit uncertain. Not every option is available.

All that changed when Ezeli followed Bogut out of the game — exactly as had happened in previous games. And this game immediately went to hell-in-a-handbasket, too. Jackson played his centers 29 minutes tonight — exactly 1 more minute than Ezeli had played by himself in the win against the Clippers.

The other familiar lesson-still-not-learned was that Jackson made no adjustments as his team slept through another opponent’s long run. Curry had begun with focus against Irving (and with Bogut or Ezeli behind him), but now Irving was getting comfortable — and Curry was getting tired.

Question

When Thompson picked up his quick 3rd foul, the question of which substitution to make — in a now foul-foreshortened backcourt rotation — leapt right out. And Jackson decided to go away from Jenkins in favor of Green. At the moment, I’m agnostic on the question. On one hand, I can understand the desire to feather in and develop (when you can) Green’s intangibles. On the other hand, Jenkins has done nothing to disqualify himself from 4th guard minutes. And in this season, sooner or later, you’ll really need a 4th guard. In the second half, when Thompson picked up his 4th foul, this time Jackson went to Jefferson instead of Jenkins.

Promising sign and lesson both: W’s regain control

The W’s did regain control of the game — but they regained control in a home game against a Cavs’ team missing Zeller and especially Varejao. In almost every other situation (a) they wouldn’t have built so robust a cushion; and (b) faced so weak a frontline to re-establish themselves against.

I’m under-emphasizing the obvious. Curry didn’t only shoot the ball well (and score craftily), but he also led his team into the tempo at which they play best. Landry and Lee were at their best, too. This time the W’s didn’t forget what a lethal scoring option Landry can be. And Lee played with a fierce concentration in all aspects of his game. His offensive versatility was at its best — and he was an unrelenting rebounder. Another signature play came in a late high screen-and-roll between Curry and Lee, when Lee suddenly found himself wide open in the lane, but then, as instantaneously as Bogut, pitched the ball to Barnes for an open (and made) 3.

In such flashes, even against a depleted Cavs’ team, you could picture how this team’s identity could finally come together.

Honeymoon

Adam and his bright, beautiful, accomplished bride C. are on a slow boat to Pango-Pango right now. Even so, at the brunch reception before they left, Adam found a few minutes to knock heads with me and hear a synopsis of the W’s/Clippers game.

He nodded his head approvingly.

“Even with Rush’s injury, I’m sticking with my 49 win prediction. This should be a playoff team.”

Chris L

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I want to support this team but godammit, enough is enough. How much more can a fan take. Exasperation has set in. I’m giving away 2 sets of tickets in good seats at OCo. I’ve had it. Email kpryor@carson.k12.nv.us. The tickets are free… I just can’t stand to watch another game.

Slimman

They had great rotations and effort for the first quarter, and were only down one at the end of it, then Jackson went small and never looked back.

Is being a Warriors fan like Groundhog Day? Before there was an excuse, because there was only one big on the entire roster anyway (Andris), but I fail to see why Ezeli didn’t bang on Howard and Gasol until he fouled out. It is mystifying.

I do want to say that I didn’t appreciate the N-bombs dropped in a post earlier, it just makes that poster look like they don’t have a brain in their head. Let’s keep things civil. I was frustrated too, but c’mon.

sartre

I would have thought that the merc had some obligation to ban his IP address. Racism is no joke.

dr_john

The players were running down the court in the 2nd quarter and they overheard Fitz and Barnett gushing about how this team is built for early offense.

That was the end of the game.

The only part I enjoyed was the last 6 minutes.

At least I nailed the Lakers score on the nose.

RickP

AB ran the floor and rebounded.

He can’t hit a FT and committed 3 TO’s in 9 minutes.

So, what has this got to do with the supposed torso injury?

Is he shooting 300 FT’s every day? Or have they just given up?

Slimman

I don’t even give a sh*t if he hits the FT’s at this point if he attacks the rim and gets Howard in foul trouble, it’s better than and and 1 or a basket against Lee at center. When Curry can’t hit a shot and neither can Jack why doesn’t Jenkins get a crack at it? It is so frustrating watching these same “win now” rotations that don’t actually win now.

rigged

Bernie Bickerstaff looks more like the ‘real’ coach for the Lakers.

Warriors looks like they’re lost. Confused. No game whatsoever. Hadn’t for the presence of Ezeli on the middle, the game would have been over even before the 2nd qtr.

The hell with the small ball.

rigged

Wasted talents.

SJ Jim

“We’ve got guys that can score the basketball… I’m not worried about that”.

“The offense will take care of itself”… Mark Jackson

This is a much bigger issue to me than going small. We chucked ourselves right out of this game, and our coach just watched. This has been going on for some time. The offense will “take care of itself”…? I mean, what self-respecting coach would go around saying that? Apparently it does take care of itself, because most of the time it looks like every man for himself.

CallMeCohan

Mark Jackson = NBF

Chris L

Sartre (204),

As a guest blogger, I don’t know how to ban IP addresses. But I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ll try to email someone and find out. (Well, on further review, maybe I did figure out something.)

bryhsiao

Mark Jack —> is not a coach.
cliche talker.

When we launched 3s over 3s early in the clock, when Curry/Thompson tried their lucks every time down, what did the coach do?

nothing.
what about some Pick&roll, going to the basket? It was working with Curry&Thompson going to the basket while Ezeli trailed and made followup dunks.

MJack went small again and mix&match to no end.

Have he ever thought how Ezeli gets us those rebounds and putback?

MJack is such a bad coach that I cannot stand no more.
Play Ezeli until he fouls out!!! Give him 40mins and let him hook left/right on every play than shooting low% 3s all day.

People bag on AB. AB actually played a good game tonight against Howard and got some nice rebounds. He was rusty for sure on some of his passes but he sure knows how to defend some and get some rebounds.

Lee got 12 rebounds because lakers cannot make shixt. But he wasn’t helping on D or boxing his man out. Jordan Hill and Gasol were beasting down low.

“We didn’t execute and then they dominated us on the offensive boards, 10 offensive boards in the second half. We knew that they were very good on the offensive boards and also points in the paint. ”

No they sucked this season. They were not very good or even good at all.
The reason why we lose offensive boards because we WENT SMALL you IDIOT.

Eric

Damn, i’m glad I had aprevious engagement and didn’t watch this slaughter.

What the hell is wrong with this team? They knew the Lakers were gonna come out with something to prove, and they didn’t even put up a fight?

jsl

Another fine mess o’ coaching from Jax.

The poor guy looks more lost and confused every game; just very hard to watch. Maybe we never win this game tonight, but we never have to look this bad.

Pathetic.

Slimman

Biedrins is no all-star, but he defended and rebounded, he did his job and should be playing more minutes with Bogut out. Ezeli played well when on the floor, but was not on it much. Howard schooled him hard once, but he was fighting and was not outmatched.

Honestly if we can see a lead evaporate or a gap widen every time he plays Lee and Landry together to go small why can’t Coach Jackson?